City of St. Charles Teamsters Local 330 Member Made Whole through Successful Union Arbitration

A public works department employee for the City of St. Charles who is a Teamsters Local 330
member was wrongfully suspended. An arbitration hearing concluded the
member’s suspension went against the union contract, and the member was made whole.

This Teamster member was disciplined by the employer due to minor property damage and
immediately given a ten-day suspension. Because the member was not given a prior verbal or
written warning during the 12-month period before the accident in question, the union filed a
grievance on July 20, 2017. The matter moved to an arbitration proceeding, which took place
on December 21, 2017.

“In light of the looming Supreme Court discussions in which
we anticipate an unfavorable ruling, this is a perfect example of how public employee union
dues directly affect the quality of union representation from which they benefit.” -Dominic
Romanazzi, President of Local 330

After much deliberation between the City of St. Charles and Teamsters Local 330, it was
determined by the arbitrator that the employer did not take the necessary disciplinary steps
before suspending the member. Therefore, the member’s suspension was ultimately converted
to an oral warning and he received back pay as the result of losing ten days of work/pay.
In the case of all grievance and arbitration procedures, union dues are expended in regard to
representing members when they have been wrongfully disciplined and/or when any of their rights have been violated.

“There was much time, effort and monies devoted by the union to this arbitration victory, as
two Local 330 attorneys were assigned to handle this grievance and arbitration,” said Dominic
Romanazzi, President of Local 330. “In light of the looming Supreme Court discussions in which
we anticipate an unfavorable ruling, this is a perfect example of how public employee union
dues directly affect the quality of union representation from which they benefit.”

The current Janus V. AFSCME Council 31 court case will determine whether or not public sector
union members choose not to pay their “fair share” of union dues, even though they benefit
from the same union representation as their coworkers. If AFSCME Council 31 fails this case, it
means all unions representing public sector employees, such as Teamsters Local 330, may lose
much needed funds to continue the same level of effective representation for their public
sector members.

“This member had union-backed power to fight and advocate for him,” Romanazzi continued.
“The best way we can combat the threat to the future of labor in Illinois is for all public sector
union members to continue to pay their union dues so that they may continue to enjoy
powerful representation, and to vote for labor-friendly candidates on March 20th.”

Teamsters Local 330 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, America’s premier labor union
for Chicago, Illinois and northwest Indiana.